‘Divided we stand, divided we tour.’ That sums up the state of the state BJP unit with rivals of former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa planning parallel tours to ‘neutralise’ the impact the former CM may have on the state’s voters. Mr Yeddyurappa is scheduled to begin his tour of north Karnataka districts— which have been severely affected by drought— from the powerful Siddaganga Math in Tumkur on Tuesday. The BJP has now cleared two more tour programmes—one to be led by BSY critic and former chief minister, D.V. Sadananda Gowda and the other by BJP national general secretary, Ananth Kumar, another rival of the Lingayat strongman . “In a day or two, the BJP will finalize the tour schedule of these leaders,” said party sources.
The BJP is doing its best to downplay the issue of a ‘divided tour’ programme by prominent leaders. Party general secretary and Hubli-Dharwad MP, Prahalad Joshi did his best to defend the three-tour exercise saying separate teams were needed to make a proper assessment of the drought situation. Insiders in the BJP however said Mr Yeddyurappa’s reluctance to accompany Ananth Kumar and Sadananda Gowda on a state tour, left the party with no option but to draw up separate tour programmes and avoid embarrassment. In fact BSY—who has been told to organise his tour under the party banner—threatened to embark on a tour of his own if the party insisted that he take his rivals with him.
Going by the tour itineraries, the three leaders are unlikely to cross paths. While Mr Yeddyurappa will be touring Lingayat dominated areas in north Karnataka, his successor in the CM’s post, Mr Gowda will tour Vokkaliga dominated south Karnataka. Mr Ananth Kumar will tour Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts along with deputy chief minister R. Ashok.